Toilet bowl composition dispenser

ABSTRACT

Containers, in particular containers for cleaning and deodorizing products which are hung over the rim of a toilet bowl, have an outer container having an upper and a lower section. The upper section has a number of apertures, which enable flushing water to enter the container. Located within the outer container is an inner container for holding the composition in liquid or gel form. The flushing water dissolves a portion of the liquid or gel and washes back out of the apertures.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation of International ApplicationNo. PCT/GB00/02167, filed Jun. 15, 2000, which was published in theEnglish language on Dec. 21, 2001, under International Publication No.WO 00/77310, and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates to improvements in or relating tocontainers, and in particular containers for cleaning and deodorizingproducts which are hung over the rim of a toilet bowl.

[0003] A very large number of such containers are already known forcompositions containing constituents such as anti-microbial agents,perfumes, bleaching agents, colorants, and/or surface active agents foruse in treating the water in toilet bowls. Ordinarily, the compositionsare located in cage-like containers, suspended near the rim of a toiletbowl in a position where, on each occasion the bowl is flushed, theflushing water enters the container and contacts the composition toentrain some of the composition before flowing into the lower part ofthe bowl. Thus, the water remaining in the bowl, after flushing,includes some of the composition which disinfects or otherwise treatsthe water and the surfaces of the bowl.

[0004] Conventionally, such compositions have been in the form ofcoherent self-supporting blocks. Such a device is described in Frenchpublished patent application FR-A-2579647, in which a self-supportingblock of disinfectant material is supported on a grid. As thedisinfectant material is colored, to prevent leakage of colored solutioninto the toilet bowl between flushes, a solid block of decolorizingproduct is located in a channel beneath the grid. Between flushes,colored solution drips onto the decolorizing block and is decolored toprevent it staining the toilet bowl in case it does leak out.

[0005] However, more recently, compositions in the form of gels andliquids have been proposed. In containers for such gels and liquids,measures have to be taken to ensure that the gel or liquid does not leakfrom the container between flushing operations. Such a device isdescribed in EP-A-0 446 795, which provides a container divided into twoadjacent sections. In one section there is located a porous material,into which the cleaning composition has been absorbed. Water enters thedevice and entrains some of the disinfecting liquid from the porousmaterial, before being washed out.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a containerfor a liquid or gel type water treating composition where these problemsare minimized.

[0007] According to the invention, there is provided a container for awater treatment composition in liquid or gel form for use in a toiletbowl comprising an outer container having a lower section and an uppersection, said upper section being provided with a plurality of aperturesfor the ingress and egress of flushing water, and further comprising aninner composition container having an open mouth, the inner containerbeing positioned within the outer container, such that the mouth isdirected toward the apertures, wherein the inner container is removableand contains a water treatment composition in liquid or gel form, andwherein the inner container has a substantially constant cross-section.

[0008] Preferably, the two parts of the outer container are connectedtogether to enable the outer container to be opened. Preferably, the twocontainer parts comprise the upper and lower sections connected by ahorizontal hinge. Alternatively, the two container parts comprise sidesections which are connected together vertically by a clip or snap-fitarrangement and separable from each other.

[0009] The lower section may be provided with baffles for supporting theinner container. Furthermore, at least one drainage port may be providedin the lower section of the outer container and provided in the base ofthe inner container.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment a hook shaped handle is provided forsupporting the container on a rim of a toilet bowl.

[0011] Moreover, a locking mechanism may be provided for securing thecontainer parts of the outer container in a closed position.

[0012] The present invention is thus advantageous in that a known typeof container for a solid block can easily be adapted for use with a gelor liquid so that the consumer has a choice of form of cleaningcomposition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detaileddescription of the invention, will be better understood when read inconjunction with the appended drawing. For the purpose of illustratingthe invention, there is shown in the drawing an embodiment which ispresently preferred. It should be understood, however, that theinvention is not limited to the precise arrangements andinstrumentalities shown. In the drawing:

[0014]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art outer container and aninner container (disassembled) according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art container 10 for asolid block (not shown) of water soluble water treatment composition.The container 10 has a lid 11, which is pivotally hinged at one edge, bymeans of hinges 13, to a base section 12. A hook shaped handle 14 isattached to the base section 12. The handle 14 enables the container 10to be suspended from the rim of a toilet bowl in the path of theflushing water. The handle 14 is provided with a locking mechanismformed by detent means 15, which can be secured within catch 16 locatedon the top of the lid 11 to hold the container 10 closed. This lockingmechanism 15, 16 enables the container to be opened to replace a used upblock with a new one.

[0016] Alternatively, the container may comprise two parts, preferablyin the form of cups or shells, which are connected together vertically,by a clip or snap-fit arrangement. Such an arrangement may have themouth of one container part snap fitting inside the mouth of the otherpart. Alternatively, one part may be provided with clips which enableboth parts to be held together. The two container parts may be whollyseparated. Any references in the following pages to container lid shouldbe considered to include references to an upper section 11 of thecontainer.

[0017] The container lid 11 is provided with a series of apertures 17,and the base section 12 is provided with one or more drainage ports 19and block-supporting baffles 18.

[0018] In use, the container 10 is opened by releasing the detent means15 from the catch 16. A block of water-treating composition is placedwithin the container 10 on the baffles 18, and the lid is closed andsecured in position by means of the locking mechanism. The container 10is suspended in position in a toilet bowl from the rim of the bowl.During flushing, water will flood into the container 10 through theapertures 17. As the water comes into contact with the block itdissolves a quantity thereof. As the flushing action continues, thewater, with the dissolved part of the block floods back out of theapertures 17 and is carried down into the toilet bowl where it carriesout a cleaning and disinfecting action. The ingress and egress of thewater through the apertures 17 causes surfactants in the composition tofoam. Foaming is seen to be an indicator of efficacy and thereforepreferred by the user. Any water remaining in the base section 12 of thecontainer 10 after flushing is completed drains out through the drainageport(s) 19. As the block is supported on the baffles 18, this helps tominimize contact with the water while it is waiting to drain.

[0019] In the move towards liquid and gel water treatment compositions,it has been found that, while this prior art container 10 can be usedfor such compositions, a surprising effect has been found in the presentinvention by providing an inner container 20 to hold the liquid or gel.The inner container 20 may sit on baffles 18, or the baffles 18 may beeliminated altogether. Thus, as the water flushes in through theapertures 17, a lower proportion enters the inner container 20 todissolve a small quantity of the gel or liquid before being flushed backout of the apertures 17. One or more drainage ports may be provided inthe outer container 10 for draining water as described above. Drainageports may also or alternatively be provided in the bottom of the innercontainer 20, to allow the drainage of any remaining flushing water fromthe inner container 20 into the outer container.

[0020] In tests of containers having such inner containers and identicalcontainers without inner containers it has been found that the life spanof the liquid or gel increases significantly, perhaps by as much as 50%.It is thought that the reasons for this are a smaller surface area ofgel exposed with the flush water, a reduction in the turbulence of flushwater contacting the gel or liquid, and less leakage of the gel orliquid via the top apertures 17 in the outer container.

[0021] The inner container 20 preferably has vertical sides to give aconstant cross-section. This is advantageous in that during usage aconstant surface area of liquid or gel is exposed which means that thefragrancing diffusion is constant. Furthermore, the cleaning action isconstant.

[0022] The present invention has a further advantage in applicationsincluding so called “blue” formulations, which tint the water in thetoilet bowl blue. The containers for these formulations generallyinclude a siphon in the base or side of the container, which allows thedrainage of flush water during the flush action but has a delayingaction to stop the flow of residual water, which has been stained blueon contact with the gel or liquid between flushes. This is the waterwhich has been left behind after the main flush and, if allowed to dripor drain between flushes, could cause a blue staining on the toiletbowl. In the case of the present invention, the drainage ports 19 in theouter container 10 are eliminated for blue liquid or gel applications,while the drainage ports in the base of the inner container 20 areretained. Thus, any residual water remaining in inner container 20 willdrain into the base section 12 of the container after flushing and willremain there until the next flush. There is thus no leakage of the blueformulation out of the outer container for staining the toilet bowl.When the toilet is next flushed, the new flush water which enters theouter container will carry away the residual blue stained water withthat flush.

[0023] The container 10 may be opened and the inner container 20refreshed with a quantity of gel or liquid from a bottle or otherappropriate storage means. Alternatively, a small filling nozzle may beaffixed to the container lid 11, so that the container may be filledwithout opening the lid 11. In such an embodiment, the container 10 maybe provided as a single enclosure without a separate lid and base hingedtogether. The use of a separate inner container, however, advantageouslyprovides a further convenient filling solution, in that new pre-filledinner containers 20 with a removable top, say of foil or plastic, can besold with which users can simply replace old empty containers 20.Alternatively, a new cartridge of gel can be placed in the innercontainer.

[0024] The inner container may be supplied in different colors to theexternal container 10 which may provide an aesthetic contrasting effect.

[0025] The containers 10, 20 may be manufactured from any suitablewaterproof material. Plastics are preferred and more preferablypolypropylenes.

[0026] Any known or other suitable gel or liquid composition may beused.

[0027] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changescould be made to the embodiments described above without departing fromthe broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, thatthis invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed,but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope ofthe present invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A container for a water treatment composition in liquid or gel form for use in a toilet bowl, comprising an outer container having a lower section and an upper section, the upper section being provided with a plurality of apertures for ingress and egress of flushing water, and further comprising an inner composition container having an open mouth, the inner container being positioned within the outer container such that the mouth is directed towards the apertures, wherein the inner container is removable and contains a water treatment composition in liquid or gel form, and wherein the inner container has a substantially constant cross-section.
 2. The container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outer container comprises two parts connected together to enable the outer container to be opened.
 3. The container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the two parts comprise the upper and lower sections of the outer container connected by a hinge.
 4. The container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the two parts comprise side sections, which are connected together by a clip or snap-fit arrangement and are separable from each other.
 5. The container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outer container lower section is provided with baffles for supporting the inner container.
 6. The container as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one drainage port provided in the outer container lower section.
 7. The container as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one drainage port provided in a base of the inner container.
 8. The container as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a hook-shaped handle for supporting the container on a rim of a toilet bowl.
 9. The container as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a locking mechanism for securing the container parts of the outer container in a closed position. 